So, a corpse walks into a bar... only the bar is a temple ruin, and the corpse was a ninja who technically was not alive, but still acted as if she was. It seemed like a setup to a bad joke, but as terrible as it was, this is exacly what was going on. She was walking into a temple, and quite possibly her death.
Once she was inside properly, her eyes rested upon the Mizukage herself, along with the great tiger that delivered the message earlier. There was another great beast -- a lion it seemed and a man that Shitai did not recognize. The female almost hesitated to step further in until she spotted a familiar face -- Kaia~Mai? Why was the little bird here? If this was to be an execution, why was there a child present? The bandaged female turned her attention to the Mizukage, about to inquire, but saw that she was about to speak. Shitai would remain silent out of respect, waiting.
"Now that you're all here, we can finally begin, now, Welcome Shitai and Kaia-Mai, Like my friend here stated before, my name is Ayakashi, this is my companion Baihu, and, like the address made clear, I'm going to need the help of every-body in this room. Some of you know this already, but the Ninja world in Kirigakure, has been under threat for some months now under the guise of the Daimyo. While the Daimyo controls a lot of the trade in the region, with the increase of strength of the ninja population and the self sufficiency of the country, tension has continued to increase to the point that attacks have been made on my person, and those around me... But I feel that these attacks are not entirely the will of the Daimyo Estate itself, but rather a foreign power within it that may be holding sway and usurping power from the throne... ... ... "
Oh dear... this was even worse than the badnaged female could have imagined; the Mizukage was involved in a clonflict with the Daimiyo of the Water Country?! This was most interesting indeed, and the kind of information that her.... 'family', the Iga clan, craved like a ravenous beast that was kept locked away and stareved. They would demanded this intelligence if they knew, as it would serve them greatly to overthrow the ninja world and bring about thier own version of peace. If they found out that Shitai was involved in with something like this, they would be furious with her for not telling them, and quite possibly attempt to have her killed; there were so many of them out there, already infiltrated into into the systems of the ninja world like a invasive, malignant species of weed. It would seem that she would now be required to play a triple agent rather than a double, nevermind how brief the third role was. Whatever information that she gained for the Mizukage the Iga would want for themselves as well, simply to possess and quite possibly use to aid thier cause should the oppurtinity arise. Releasing a sigh, the bandaged female looked down over the maps and pictures that lay upon the table; the maps she could understand, but who were the people in the pictures...?
"Now that you know our opponents, you are bound to me until this is over, but I will not force you to partake in a mission that is so dangerous. If you want to back out now, now is the chance to do so, but I believe that this with this one step, we can turn the tide of this situation and free the Daimyo of the influence of a tyrannical adviser. If you'd help me, three thousand ryo and my greatest of gratitude would be awarded to you. The favor of the Mizukage herself is a prize few are able to claim, especially at such a young age. This is the foundation of greatness, and Kiri is the nation where greatness is born. So, will you help me?"
So, this was not about her? A wave of relief washed over the female as the Mizukage spoke, but she was smart enough to not let it show. The bandages that covered her face and body would do well to hide her expressions and body lauguage -- mostly. She did not need to breathe, so there would be no change in breathing rate, no slightly twitches of her body; the female could become as still as a statue should she wish to do it. But this was not the time nor the place to stand about and marvel at the abilities of her body; there was apparently a mission to be done that the Mizukage felt that Shitai was perfect to perform. She would agree to aid the Mizukage; the favor of such a high ranking persona would possibly come in handy later in her... unlife. Perhaps if it ever came to light of her actions, she could use this moment as a proof of her loyalty to stay a slaying hand. A simple nod and bow would suffice as her reply.
"Okay, so the plan follows three parts before we can begin to make our move against the Foreign Adviser and his men, but each of those parts are equally important. The first, is a means to allow the group of you to move into position within the Daimyo compound itself, infiltration is easy, there's no way a Kirigakure ninja could enter that villa right now flying the hitiate of our nation. But you two genin... neither of you are known to the Daimyo to be mine, foreign factors, nameless. Each of you are capable of running through the front door in civilian attire and not attracting the slightest attention. So you will do so, and while you're within the area your missions are two-fold. Under cloak you are to steal information on the compound itself, this information will likely be found at outposts of the Daimyo's Samurai, as they use this map information to organize their patrols... The drawback is, each of these patrol houses likely contain only the information they have to, keeping records segmented keeps the Compound safe, so you may have to steal copies from multiple locations in order to comprise a full map.
The other option, is to take the master copy, which will be under lock and key at the Generals' outpost. It will be under high guard, but know this, I've both trained and trained with these Samurai, while they are skilled and powerful warriors they are not ninja, they are not expecting you, and will not be looking for you for the most part. They look for thieves and banditry. They have little control over their chakra save for the most basic of bukijutsu techniques, use that to your advantage, work together, think like ninja using craft, cunning, stealth, misdirection and distraction and you both will be fine, if you're really Strafes or Mitsuo's daughter, or ninja of this country, I know you'll be fine, but as an added note, don't harm the Samurai, we need them later...
The second mission after that is the one you're REALLY here for, and that is for information, using the maps you would have acquired at this point, you're to infiltrate the heart of the Daimyo estate, that means getting past the Daimyo's Personal-Guard and into the grounds reserved for the Family of the Daimyo and their most honored guests. Here I will need you to find a means of getting any and all personal information you can on the Advisor, the Daimyo, and the Assassins under their employ. Knowledge is power in this fight and up until now we have been powerless against these foreign invaders... The Personal-Guard are a different monster than the Samurai... Don't be spotted at all, they all know each other and every patron of that place down to the freckle... This mission will be hard, but, I have faith in the two of you, with those maps, there will be entrances that are not under guard that ninja like you can use that even I cannot."
So, this was basically an infiltration and intelligence gathering mission? That seemed simple enough to her, despite the obvious danger She was not afraid to die -- death was not so bad, at least to her. She could do information gathering -- she'd spent all this time 'gathering' information for her own clan, so why would she not be able to infiltrate and gather information from the Daimiyo's palace?
"Which brings me to us Cousin, our Job is simple and to the point, we need to distract the Assassins in their entirety by striking at multiple locations of the complex, allowing the Assassins to see us and forcing them to throw their forces in our direction. So far it seems that there may be fewer more than six of them, and they seem to arrive in pairs, so, between you, me, Momaru, and Bai, we should be able to draw up to a potential eight assassins out of the compound, in case we have not seen them all, as well as whatever men they bring with them. I doubt in this conflict we will be able to eliminate any of the fighters, but, we 'have' to keep them distracted for the entire time Kaia-Mai and Shitai are within the compound... The strategy on our side is that they cannot raise the alarms of the Samurai, least the Samurai discover that a battle is waging between the Daimyo and the countries ninja, that discovery would plunge the Samurai camp into political chaos for days until their general united them... after all, his word is law to those men...
So, we have our plans, we have our missions, what says you all... thoughts? Strategies, now is the time to speak them. No idea is unfounded here, this mission is massive, each component alone would be an S rank mission undertaken by the most skilled Jounin... but sadly, those assassins, and those Samurai, they know all my Jounin... they don't know you."
Oh... That was why. The little bird and the bandaged female would be on a timer, so to speak; the longer it took for them to aquire the information, the longer the fight that the Mizukage and her cousin Strafe -- not to forget Baihu and Momaru -- would have in thier hands. The longer the fight lasted, the more of an opportunity for something to happen, for someone to slip up and become hurt... They were all human, after all. Despite her condition, Shitai was still human as well -- mistakes could be made, and with a mistake would come a high cost; the default payment setting was one life, yours or a comrade's. For the moment, Shitai fell silent. She could see very well why the Mizukage chose her and Kaia -- Kaia's status as a new arrival to village could be taken as she was not formally on Kirigakure's books as a registered ninja. As for Shitai herself, her birth name was listed as deceased and KIA; she's taken to wandering the forests and the bloody cemetary in order to stay away from people. It would seem that word had reached the Mizukage of Shitai being an actual persona, rather than just a rumor. The young woman could not help but wonder if the Mizukage knew the truth of her; that she was a former shinobi that had been laid to 'rest'... For the moment, Shitai had nothing to say herself, but rather looked up when Strafe spoke, turning her atttention to him.
"We need some kind of signal or sound to signal when their mission is over or if the assassins decide to send someone back. I don't want any surprises for our genin here." He spoke calmly before looking down and smiling at Kaia and continuing. "Also, there is something I want to say to both the Genin here. You are both brave beyond words and we appreciate what you are doing for Kirigakure. I've also seen these assassins, and they are worth this risk. However, Do not be a hero. If you see any of the people in these pictures, you run with the information you currently have. One of us will know and be there to assist you. This information is vital to the elimination of our true enemy, and the information is more important that any assistance you would give in battle."
Shitai would nod to this statement; this mission was worth more than her -- doubly so, as she was already dead. If need be, she would do whatever she needed to ensure her and Little Bird's survival, up to and including giving everthing she had to Little Bird to ensure she made it out.
"Lastly, on high priority missions I use a code for injuries. We don't want to parade around our weaknesses in front of the enemy. One finger for a non-critical injury. That's simple things like severe bruising or sprains. Two fingers for a major injury. Broken bones, Concussion, or anything that makes you unable to defend yourself fully. Anything more than than that and it would probably take my direction attention regardless, and we will cross that bridge when we get there. Use this system to keep each other from unpleasant surprises. If you know which part is injured, tap it with the finger so I will know."
That was sound logic to follow; it would come in handy for the duration of this mission, and was quite possibly a code to adopt herself for the future. The bandaged female nodded to show her understanding; she had something else to add to this statement, something that would possibly put thier minds to ease somewhat, but it seems that the Little Bird Kaia would beat her to punch.
"I'm sure we could easily play this to our advantage. Two kids playing. Most people don't bother giving children a second glance, and most seem to underestimate them. I feel like we could go right for the master copy if we play our cards right... even under heavy guard. I always carry a little ball around, I could throw it, let it get away from me, and feign tripping and getting hurt. A crying, upset child, tends to catch the attention of most adults no matter who they are - and they'll have no reason to suspect I'm anything but that. While they're trying to consule me, or at least make sure I'm okay, as long as the opening presents itself you can slip in un-noticed and grab the master copy. I can easily play off being hurt to give you time enough to do so... When you're out and free, you could simply give me a signal to indicate you got it, and I could get up and 'walk off' whatever injury I was playing up. Unless, of course, you have another idea?"
Oh my. From the mouth of babes, indeed. It seemed that the innocent child that she had met before was gone, or at least buried for the purpose of the mission, and in its place was a rational thinking shinobi who was able to accurately assess and predict the actions and reactions of th adults around her. Shitai smiled and nodded to the child, deeming her plan to be the most sensible for the mission. For the first time since her arrival, the bandaged female spoke, her raspy voice resounding clearly in the area through the bandages that covered her mouth . "Your idea would be the best course of action, Kaia. We can prey upon thier natural instincts to console an upset and hurt child to purchase an opportunity for me to slip in and gather the evidence and intelligence that we require. If possible and with the Lady Mizukage's permission, I can attempt to to sabotage the remaining information for our purposes?" As she spoke, the bandaged female drew herself up, standing up straight and proper before turning her attention to Strafe Aisu. "As for injuries, I possess skill in medical ninjutsu; should Kaia or myself, if one of us becomes injured, then I can attend to our wounds efficiently , barring nothing life threatening. I admit to not possessing the same prowess with healing as you do, but I believe to possess enough to put your minds at ease and allow you concentrate on your task that much more." The female fell silent then, unsure of how to proceed from that point. What would they say to her opinion, or her statement? Time would tell...
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